Our View: RI legislators offer a route around the tolls

After months of study and the continued collection of 10-cent tolls (and the assorted hassles that have come with it for some motorists) a group of Rhode Island legislators have filed legislation to create a predictable statewide funding source for the Ocean State's roads and bridges, eliminating the toll on the Sakonnet River Bridge.

After months of study and the continued collection of 10-cent tolls (and the assorted hassles that have come with it for some motorists) a group of Rhode Island legislators have filed legislation to create a predictable statewide funding source for the Ocean State's roads and bridges, eliminating the toll on the Sakonnet River Bridge.

Without action, the temporary 10-cent toll was expected to jump significantly later this year — to between 75 cents to $5.25 per crossing over the bridge connecting Tiverton and Portsmouth, R.I. When the Rhode Island General Assembly, which appeared poised to nix the toll for the Sakonnet, ended up enacting the 10-cent tolls at the 11th hour as a "place holder" while it looked for alternatives, it also established the Special Legislative Commission to Study the Funding of East Bay Bridges.

After holding hearings and looking into ways to fund infrastructure — both in the East Bay and statewide — legislators have devised a fair plan to fund Rhode Island's roads and bridge maintenance, now and in the future.

The bill, primarily sponsored by state Rep. John Edwards, D-Tiverton, in the House, and state Sens. Louis DiPalma and Christopher Scott Ottiano in the Senate — all members of the commission — would create a new Infrastructure Trust Fund. It would also go beyond automobile transportation, increasing funding to the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.

The bill would also essentially cut the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority's bridge ownership in half, transferring the Sakonnet River Bridge and the Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge from the RITBA back to the state DOT. It would establish a new Rhode Island Bridge Authority (which certainly makes more sense for a name since Rhode Island does not have any turnpikes) as a department within the DOT, with the ability to toll only the Newport-Claiborne Pell Bridge.

Under the equitable road and bridge funding plan proposed, Rhode Island's long-neglected infrastructure would be maintained through a predictable funding formula. A new Infrastructure Trust Fund would receive 2.5 percent of the state budget. Under the plan, all new fines from the uninsured motorist fund would be dedicated to the fund. So, too, would gas tax revenue that becomes available as the state retires prior Department of Transportation bonds.

Then, by 2020 — once all the outstanding bonds are paid off — all gas tax revenues would go into the maintenance fund. Meanwhile, the plan would also enact a 5 percent surcharge on Division of Motor Vehicle fees until 2020. While that may be a tough pill to swallow for motorists, it seems only fair that the burden for road and bridge maintenance should be shifted statewide, rather than only by tolling East Bay motorists and harming Aquidneck Island's economy by discouraging tourism.

The bill is now expected to be referred to committee for hearings and would come to a vote at the end of June. This seems like a solid plan to spread the burden of bridge maintenance across the state, rather than unfairly burdening the residents of the East Bay. Instead of taking a piecemeal approach to road and bridge maintenance, it would help ensure a predictable funding source now and in the future.

Page 2 of 2 - Let's hope the plan gains traction in the Rhode Island General Assembly and the Sakonnet River Bridge tolls can be eliminated before they continue to damage the region's economy and place an unfair burden on East Bay motorists.